Maryland Favorite Moorenko’s Ice Cream Opens Its First D.C. Shop in Eastern Market

Silver Spring-based scoops shop Moorenko’s opens its first D.C. location in Eastern Market today at noon, bringing the city a place to sample its rich and creamy flavors. The beloved brand’s new store (720 C Street SE) is open seven days week. Operating hours are noon to 8 p.m. Sunday through Thursday with a 9 p.m. close on Friday and Saturday.

Its “ultra-premium” product (17 percent milk fat) comes in cups, cones, milkshakes, malteds, floats, and pre-packed pints, founder Susan Soorenko says. A dipping case houses 20 flavors to start. The brand is known for flavors such as cherry stracciatella, salted caramel with pralines, and cookie overload. Moorenko’s sources dairy from grass-fed cows raised on family-owned farms in Pennsylvania.

Soorenko says she plans to soon add a coffee program from Santa Lucia Coffee, a woman-owned roasting operation in Gaithersburg, Maryland. For now, there are juices and craft sodas. Due to COVID-19, the location is cashless. There’s no inside seating, and all service is takeaway to start.

The essential ice cream chain inked its 722-square-foot lease in June, sliding into the space that recently housed a Trickling Springs Creamery store. The latter creamery suddenly shut down production last fall, forcing the year-old Eastern Market location to call it quits.

After studying under ice cream pros in New York and a master gelato maker in Italy, Soorenko debuted her brand locally in 2002. Along with its Silver Spring and Ellicott City stores, the ice cream is also sold at specialty grocers across D.C., Maryland, and Virginia.

• Maryland-Based Moorenko’s Ice Cream Is Opening Its First D.C. Shop in Eastern Market [EDC]
• Two of D.C.’s Best Ice Cream Shops Are Reportedly Weeks Away From Closing [EDC]